Problem: A curve is defined by the parametric equations $x=3^t-1$ and $y=9^t$. What is $\dfrac{d^2y}{dx^2}$ in terms of $t$ ? Choose 1 answer: Choose 1 answer: (Choice A) A $\dfrac{2^t\ln(3)}{9}$ (Choice B) B $\dfrac{2}{\ln(3)}$ (Choice C) C $2$ (Choice D) D $2\cdot3^t$
Solution: We are asked to find the second derivative of a parametric function. Recall that the first derivative of a function defined parametrically by the equations $x=u(t)$ and $y=v(t)$ is found with the following rule: $\dfrac{dy}{dx}=\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{dy}{dt}\right)}{\left(\dfrac{dx}{dt}\right)}=\dfrac{v'(t)}{u'(t)}$ Then, the second derivative is found with this following rule: $\dfrac{d^2y}{dx^2}=\dfrac{\dfrac{d}{dt}\left(\dfrac{dy}{dx}\right)}{\left(\dfrac{dx}{dt}\right)}=\dfrac{\dfrac{d}{dt}\left(\dfrac{v'(t)}{u'(t)}\right)}{u'(t)}$ Let's start by finding $\dfrac{dy}{dx}$. $\dfrac{dy}{dx}=2\cdot3^t$ Now we can find $\dfrac{d^2y}{dx^2}$. $\begin{aligned} \dfrac{d^2y}{dx^2}&=\dfrac{\dfrac{d}{dt}\left(\dfrac{dy}{dx}\right)}{\left(\dfrac{dx}{dt}\right)} \\\\ &=\dfrac{\dfrac{d}{dt}\left(2\cdot3^t\right)}{\dfrac{d}{dt}(3^t-1)} \\\\ &=\dfrac{2\cdot3^t\ln(3)}{3^t\ln(3)} \\\\ &=2 \end{aligned}$ In conclusion, $\dfrac{d^2y}{dx^2}=2$.